Improvement in bleaching and whitening wool



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER STEVENSON, OF CLINTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO BIGELOW CARPET COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BLEACHING AND WHITENING WOOL, 8 c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,160, dated June 14,1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER STEVENSON, of Clinton, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new andv improved mode of bleaching or whitening wool, woolen and worsted yarn and cloths, and other fibrous substances and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

The articles to be bleached or whitened should be first properly cleansed or scoured, which, if they are composed of wool, may be done by washing them with soap and sal-soda in the usual way.

The bleaching or whitening process consists of two operations, and requires the use of two tubs similar in their construction to the ordinary dye-tubs, that for the first operation being provided with a steam apparatus or other means of heatingits contents. The size of the tub should conform to the quantity of goods to be bleached or whitened, and I have found in practice that one hundred pounds is the most convenient weight to put through at once. Preparatory to the first operation, the tub provided with the heating apparatus should be filled with clear cold water, and oil of vitriol of 170 added thereto until the mixture acquires the strength of 1 Twaddle. Preparatory to the second operation, the tub having no heating apparatus should be filled With clear cold water, and six fluid ouncesof a solution of aniline blue added thereto, said solution consisting of two ounces of the bestaniline blue, free from purple or violet tinge, dissolved in one gallon of alcohol or pure spirits. The liquors thus prepared will bleach or whiten one hundred pounds of wool, woolen or worsted goods, and serve as a basis of repeated operations 5 but for every one hundred pounds of goods entered subsequently there should be added to the tub for the first operation three pounds of oil of vitriol of the same strength as that used in the first instance, and to the tub for the second operation-two fluid ounces of the said solution of aniline blue.

The treatment ot'the goods during the process of bleaching or whitening is as follows, viz: The liquor for the first operation while in use should be keptat the temperature of about 160Fahrenheit. The goods arefirstimmersed in said heated liquor and worked in a manner similar to thatemployed in dyeing wool, woolen and worsted goods for a period of from eight to ten minutes, then lifted, drained, and washed. They are then immersed in the second tub, and after being worked, as in the first operation, for from eight to ten minutes are lifted, drained, passed through a hydro-extractor, and dried in a hot room.

The quantities of materials to be used for bleaching or whitening a given weight of goods, as above specified, are such as l have found to answer best in practice; but they may be varied to meet the requirements of differentkinds of wool, and also to raise or lower the shade of white or tinge of blue, as may be found desirable, without departing from the principles of my inventionas, for example, if a higher or deeper tinge of blue is required, more of the solution of aniline blue may be added, and vice versa;

\Vhat I claim as my invention,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The method of bleaching or whitening wool, woolen and worsted yarns and cloths by the combined action of oil of vitriol and aniline blue, substantially as specified.

PETER STEVENSON.

Witnesses:

G. L. SWAN, W. J. JENKINS. 

